Belgian member of the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, who heads the parliament’s Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group, has urged acting Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas not to build a government coalition with the anti-migrant Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE).

Estonian public broadcaster ERR reports quoting Politico news portal that Verhofstadt, a convinced liberal and an ex-Prime Minister of Belgium, had written in an email to Ratas that EKRE was an «extreme right-wing political party which resembles European fascist regimes».

The Belgian member of the European Parliament had asserted that a Centre-EKRE cooperation would be «detrimental to Estonian society and the country’s geopolitical position and cause irreparable damage to our excellent cooperation in a liberal family».

Reacting to Verhofstadt’s opinion, the acting Estonian Prime Minister has stated on Thursday, March 14, to ERR that Brussels should not be dictating anything to Estonia: «I believe that Brussels should not dictate to Estonia now what our new coalition will be. The people of Estonia, our highest authority, have demonstrated what kind of XIV Riigikogu they wish to see, and we are acting according to what the people of Estonia have said.»

The Centre Party, has this week launched coalition talks with EKRE, as well as conservative party Isamaa, after rejecting a coalition talks offer from the Reform party at the end of last week. A Centre-EKRE-Isamaa government would have 65 mandates, which is considerably ober the 51 seats required for a Riigikogu majority.

Leave a reply

Last week in and about Lithuania, the top developments were the dismissal of two high-ranking judges, the formation of a new political group in Seimas and the Human Rights Court agreeing to Soviet repressions against Lithuanian partisans as genocide.

At a speedy pace – this is how the emerging crisis in waste management was being prevented in Riga this week. Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš gave Riga City Council a bashing, saying that Riga is attempting to pass on its problems on the shoulders of the entire country. The prime minister asked the capital to settle its own problems. Nevertheless, the government declared a state of emergency in Riga.

In regards to the topic of the state budget’s fiscal space in 2020 and expenditures for priorities, Latvia’s Justice Ministry insists on maintaining its position in regards to Liepaja Prison’s construction project’s necessity.

In the Brexit saga, speaker of a parliamentary chamber has pledged to permit changing the rules of procedure to keep UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson from forcing a no-deal Brexit on October 31, seen as a potential violation of law.

In Lithuania, inflation has been two times faster in 2019 compared to other markets in the euro area. Economist Žygimantas Mauricas believes retailers have used a surge in wages to increase prices, especially in grocery stores.

Municipalities are planned to be applied with a ban to found and publish mass media, as provided by Saeima’s Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee’s supported amendments to the Law on Press and Other Mass Media, as confirmed by Saeima’s press-service.

Latvia still has not ratified European Council Convention on Prevention of Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, otherwise known as the Istanbul Convention, even though it is a major tool for combating domestic violence, said UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women representative Ana Peláez Narváez.

As two prominent TV faces are set to win the runoff elections to take vacant seats left in Lithuanian parliament after two MPs swapped their parliamentary jobs for mayoral stints and an independent MP, Aušra Maldeikienė, left for Brussels as europarliamentarian, the Lithuanian Social Democrats’ leader, Gintautas Paluckas, who is former vice-mayor of capital city Vilnius, is restless.

Latvian residents are expected to install smoke detectors in their homes – private houses and apartments – by 1 January. For private homes, however, there is an additional requirement – owners are expected to have fire extinguishers on hand as well, reminds State Fire and Rescue Service.

The latest Times Higher Education ranking of the leading large higher education institutions in the world, the University of Tartu has been placed in the group of 301-350 best. Other Baltic universities followed in the group of 801-1000.

«The summer will not last forever,» said Lithuanian Finance Minister Vilius Šapoka about a summary of official economic forecasts, which warn that after a fairly rapid growth, national economy and wages would grow at a somewhat slower pace.

Baltic News Network uses cookies to customize content for readers and analyse information flow. Cookies can be deleted at any time in your browser’s search settings. We inform you that cookies may also be used by third parties and our cooperation partners, for example, when you read BNN news in social media.